Pocahontas

The Native American Story of Pocahontas
'A First Book in American History' by Edward
Eggleston

The Story of Pocahontas
While Captain John Smith was a prisoner among
the Indians of Powhatan's tribe, he made the
acquaintance of that chief's daughter,
Pocahontas [po-ka-hon'-tas], a little girl of
ten or twelve years of age, with whom he was
very much pleased. Years afterwards, he said
that Powhatan
had at one time determined to put
him to death; but when Captain Smith's head was
laid upon some stones, and Indians stood ready
to beat out his brains, Pocahontas laid her head
on his, so that they could not kill Captain
Smith without striking her; seeing which,
Powhatan let him live. Captain Smith said
nothing about this occurrence in the first
accounts of his captivity, and many people think
that it never happened.

But it is certain that, whether Pocahontas saved
his life at this time or not, he was much
attached to her, and she became very fond of
going to Jamestown, where she played with the
boys in the street. When the settlers were in
danger of starving, she brought them food. When
a messenger was sent from Jamestown to carry an
important message to Captain Smith, then in
Powhatan's country, she hid the man, and got him
through in spite of Powhatan's desire to kill
him. When the Indians intended to kill Captain
Smith, she went to his tent at night and gave
him warning. Captain Smith offered her trinkets
as a reward, but she refused them, with tears in
her eyes, saying that Powhatan would kill her if
he knew of her coming there. These are the
stories told of her in Captain Smith's history.
And when a number of white men then in the
Indian country were put to death, she saved the
life of a white boy named Henry Spelman by
sending him away.

When Captain Smith had been in the colony two
years, ships came from London with many hundreds
of people. The ships that brought this company
to Jamestown in 1609 were under the command of
men that were enemies of Captain Smith, who had
come to be governor of the colony. These men
resolved to depose John Smith, so as to get the
government of Jamestown into their own hands.
Smith, having been injured by an explosion of
gunpowder, consented to go back to England. His
enemies sent charges against him. One of these
charges was that he wished to marry Pocahontas,
who was now growing up, and thus to get
possession of the colony by claiming it for the
daughter of Powhatan, whom the English regarded
as a kind of king.

The colony had every reason to be sorry that
Captain Smith was sent away. The men left in
charge managed badly, Powhatan ceased to be
friendly, and his little daughter did not come
to see the English people any more. The people
of Jamestown were now so afraid of the Indians
that they dared not venture outside the town.
Soon all of their food was gone, and they had
eaten up their horses. Some of the people were
killed by the Indians; some fled in one of the
ships and became pirates; and great numbers of
them died of hunger.

Ships arrived at last, bringing help to the
colony. Under one governor and another Jamestown
suffered many troubles from sickness and from
the Indians. There was in the colony a sea
captain named Argall, who thought that, if he
could get Pocahontas into his power, her father,
the great chief Powhatan, might be persuaded to
be peaceable.

Pocahontas was by this time a young woman of
about eighteen. She was visiting an old chief
named Japazaws, who lived on the Potomac River.
Argall was trading with the Indians at
Japazaws's town. He told Japazaws that, if he
would bring Pocahontas on board his ship, he
would give him a copper kettle. Every Indian
wanted to have a copper kettle, of all things.
Japazaws and his wife, pretending that they
wished to see the vessel, coaxed Pocahontas to
go with them. Argall refused to let her go
ashore again, and carried her to Jamestown a
prisoner.

Here she stayed a year. The English people in
Jamestown refused to give her up unless Powhatan
would return some guns which the Indians had
taken. There was an Englishman living at
Jamestown, named John Rolfe, who fell in love
with Pocahontas, and proposed to marry her. When
word was sent to Powhatan of this, he readily
agreed to the marriage, and an old uncle and two
brothers of Pocahontas went down to Jamestown to
attend the wedding. Pocahontas, having been
instructed in the Christian religion, was
baptized in the little church, and married to
Rolfe in 1614. Her real name was Matoax, but her
father called her Pocahontas. When she was
baptized, she took the name of Rebecca.

The marriage of Pocahontas brought peace with
the Indians. In 1616, with her little baby boy,
Pocahontas was taken to England. Here she was
called "the Lady Rebecca," and treated with
great respect as the daughter of a king.

The people at Jamestown had told Pocahontas that
John Smith was dead. When she saw him alive in
England, she was very much offended. She fell
into such a pout that for some time she would
not speak to anybody. Then she announced her
intention of calling Captain Smith her father,
after the Indian plan of adoption.

She was greatly petted by the king and queen and
all the great people. The change from a smoky
bark hut to high life in England must have been
very great, but she surprised everybody by the
quickness with which she learned to behave
rightly in any company. She was much pleased
with England, and was sorry to go back. When she
was ready to sail, she was attacked by
tuberculosis,
and died.

Her little boy was now left in England. Captain
Argall, who had made Pocahontas prisoner, was
now made Governor of Virginia. He was a very
dishonest man, and he and some partners of his
appear to have had a scheme to get possession of
the colony by claiming it for the child of
Pocahontas as the grandson of "King Powhatan."
Argall sent word to England that the Indians had
resolved to sell no more land, but to keep it
all for this child. This was, no doubt, a
falsehood. Argall was a bad governor, and he was
soon recalled, and a better man took his place.
The son of Pocahontas returned to Virginia when
he was grown.

But when Pocahontas was dead, and Powhatan also,
there was nothing to keep the Indians quiet, and
in 1622 they suddenly fell upon the settlement
and killed more than three hundred people in one
day. Long and bloody wars followed, but the
colony of Virginia lived through them all.

The Story of Pocahontas
This story of Pocahontas is featured in the book
entitled 'A First Book in American History' by
Edward Eggleston, and published by American Book
Company, New York, 1889

The Story of Pocahontas
The Native American Indian Story of Pocahontas
provides an opportunity to read about the
life and times of Native American Indians and many of
their great chiefs and famous leaders. A Classic
Short story about Pocahontas for kids and children of all
ages. This short story of Pocahontas is great to read to kids
and children at bedtime. This very short
story contains folklore about the famous
people of Native Indian tribes.

The Story of Pocahontas for Kids
This short Native American story
has been selected to keep the attention of kids
and children of all ages. Many of the
traditional stories featured in this section are true and others are
folk stories or myths and legends. Read our
free short story online about Pocahontas. Read a
free, online short story about the people of
famous tribes Native American Indians to
increase knowledge and understanding of the
indigenous people of North America.

Pocahontas

The Story of
Pocahontas for kids

Pocahontas,
Culture and Mythology

Interesting story about Pocahontas for kids and schools

American Indian Stories, Folklore, Mythology, Myths and Legends -
Pocahontas

Classic Short
story for kids and children

Read
this free, online short story of Pocahontas

Pocahontas -
Pictures and Videos of Native Americans
The Story of Pocahontas. Discover the vast selection of
pictures which relate to the Stories, History and Culture of Native Americans. The pictures show the clothing,
War
Paint, weapons
and decorations of various Native Indian tribes that can
be used as a really useful
educational history resource for kids and children of all ages.
We have included pictures and videos to accompany the
main topic of this section - The Native American story
of Pocahontas. The videos on this website enable fast access to the
images, paintings and pictures together with information
and many historical facts. All of the articles
and pages can be accessed via the
Native Indian Tribes Index - a
great educational resource for kids.